Satya

"Sure, the UN can try to do something about it, the Dalai Lama can be out and about in the mMy Sleeping Karma - Satyaedia and touring across the world, but even that’s only going to get you so far. What the Free Tibet movement really needs is four Deutsche psychedelic (mostly) instrumental hippies championing their cause.

And that’s just what it gets with Satya.

Satya is MSK’s second record for ?bercool German label Elektrohasch, and it’s not so far removed from 2006’s self-titled musically. There are some sparse vocals, some sampled chants and finally a message from the Dalai Lama himself (how did they get him into the studio?), but mostly it’s just laid back psych grooves and fuzzy stoner guitars that get active but not necessarily aggressive on a cut like album centerpiece “A-Steya.” No complaints on that front.

If you can get behind the spirituality and haven’t heard enough about freeing Tibet from, well, everyone I guess, go for it. Should you happen to forget about all that stuff and just concentrate on the music — there’s a thought — you’ve got a pretty enjoyable album on your hands. Note: with every song named for an aspect of Buddhism, that whole “getting past it” thing might be more difficult than it sounds. Worth a shot though.

Good flow, solid, consistent groove and enough quiet spacey moments and interludes to be considered diverse. Provided you can get down with some serious cultural imperialism (white people to the rescue!), there isn’t anything to complain about. And oh yeah, free Tibet, man." - The Obelisk

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Napalm Records has gone all out entering the psychedelic and stoner rock scenes. First they signed France's Glowsun and now they have poached My Sleeping Karma from the Elektrohasch label. While Glowsun bludgeons you with pure power, Germany's My Sleeping Karma take a different approach. Their music grooves and is purpose driven but it moves along a slower pace. This instrumental quartet's music is more dynamic, with quieter passages and shadings. It does explode with sheer ferocity but only after it lulls you into a false sense of security. More psych than stoner. Nicely mystical in places. Limited edition digipak with two bonus tracks. Highly recommended for those who like to travel to the inner realms.

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As has previously been mentioned ad nauseum in the past, Quantum Fantay are probably the best proponent of the space rock sound carved out by Ozric Tentacles."7th interstellar release of Belgiums spacerock collective Quantum Fantay 'Tessellation of Euclidean Space' adding 2 new members on Flute (Jorinde) and Sax (Nette) widening the colorfull spectrum of the astral planes QF flies around. Plug out of reality. Plug into your dreams and never stop chasing them!!!!"

Fifth album from this German instrumental psych/stoner band is a real mind crusher. You like My Brother The Wind? You need to hear this. If Samsara Blues Experiment recorded an instrumental album it might sound something like this. The album is interspersed with quieter introspective interludes that just seem to made the heavier parts heavier and the spacier parts trippier. If you like your psych served up hard you can't pass it up. Devastating stuff. BUY OR DIE!BTW - the angry metal guy tells it way better than I can:"It was difficult for me to turn down a promo so intertwined with one of the subjects of my recently-completed dissertation. Aldous Huxley‘s migration to Eastern philosophy, influenced by both Taoism and Buddhism, is well documented in his final novel, Island. The inhabitants of the idyllic island practice such spiritual, philosophical models, culminating in the consumption of so-called “Moksha-medicine,” a hallucinogen which permits heightened awareness and understanding. The band which explores similarly Zen and reflective topics is one to catch my eye and I excitedly embarked on this quest for internal liberation.Moksha is the fifth full-length by Germany’s My Sleeping Karma, succeeding their previous release Soma (also a reference to Eastern spirituality and prominently interpreted in Huxley’s Brave New World). It accordingly incorporates Eastern instrumentation in a groovy, psychedelic exploration of exactly how mellow one can be while the music can still be interpreted as metal. Though it could be described as relaxing mood music, the distorted guitars and surprising technical proficiency of the band grounds Moksha in the space between rock and metal (and also qualifies it for AMG, you goddamned haters).If Kraut or psychedelic rock is your jam then you will assuredly find plenty to enjoy here. The minimalist approach with sparingly-used instruments and catchy but repetitive leads will worm its way into your skull. There aren’t multiple riffs throughout each song; rather, a core motif which gradually progresses and develops throughout, lending a charming coherency to the album – see opener “Prithvi” for this. Occasional synths and piano keys afford an ethereal air too. However, it’s the points at which more overt Eastern instrumentation is used that the material really stands out. The five “Interlude”s which split each of the main songs strongly evoke My Brother The Wind, with groovy bass-lines and the interesting use of monk’s chants and hand-operated drums. The album’s concept is thus drawn into the music and it creates a quite captivating effect. The sudden and disturbing emanation of pop shite from one of my housemates’s bedrooms drew me from my trance and alerted me to how involving the material is.Despite the repetitive and seemingly improvised nature of the music, its technicality is another boon. As the songs progress and layer, the guitars and drums can become quite intense despite the over-arching serenity (I’m aware this sounds like a contradiction but it’s a testament to the subtle song-writing). The nifty transition at 2:30 of “Akasha” foregrounds a sound very similar to mid-era Anathema, and the transition at 4:00 demonstrates the talent of the bassist and drummer, leading into an appropriately-climatic harmony. This is just one song, but jazzy drum fills and strong bass work permeate the entirety of the release. The Floydian jam on “Interlude 5” is compelling too.I would argue that Moksha effectively achieves its goal and nails the style it strives for. However, I do feel that it may be too niche for some listeners – it’s easy for me to concertedly listen for the technical accomplishments as a reviewer, but the music can slip to the background into the realms of mood music. Though a pleasant listen it may be, one could argue it’s a little safe and it certainly doesn’t arouse my passions sufficiently to push my score to excellent. Furthermore, each of the main tracks can sound quite similar if not explicitly listening – that said, the interludes split up the record nicely so this effect is mitigated. I’m also part of the niche rock and metal market that appreciates the spiritual subject matter, if only on an academic level.Turning my gaze to the empirical and away from the spiritual, the solid dynamics certainly aid affairs. The principle tracks hit a DR score of 8, with the “Interlude”s varying between 10 and 14. There is good breathing room for each instrument and each is clean without being over-produced. A holistic sound is achieved which envelops the listener well.I imagine there is quite a specific demographic that this music hits so it may not be for everyone, but I’m enjoying my journey to the geographic heights of Nepal, the enigmatic Sadhus of India and through the tenets of Yin Yang. The ultimate dearth of diversity and Moksha‘s intrinsic tranquility limits my true passion for the record, but it’s a worthwhile investment nonetheless. Aldous would be proud." - The Angry Metal Guy

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There are some changes to the lineup for Belgium's answer to Ozric Tentacles. Longtime guitarist Dario Frodo only appears as a guest on one track. He was replaced by Tom Tas. Also appearing in guest roles are Ozric Tentacles guitarist Ed Wynne as well as a flautist anemd Charels Sla and Karel Baetens on hand percussion. Overally don't expect any radical change in sound. Consisting of 4 long tracks, Dancing In Limbo blasts off into space and will trip you out with celestial synths and crystalline, laser-like guitar runs. Highly recommended.

Sweet Smoke were a bunch of Jewish hippie musicians from Brooklyn that uprooted themselves and moved to Germany. The band cut two studio and one live album from EMI/Harvest. Darkness To Light was the band's second album, cut after a trip to India. It was released in 1972. At this point the band's lineup had expanded a bit. The music is of its time - basically a head on collision of jazz rock and The Grateful Dead. The longer tracks tend to be more interesting. "Kundalini" is a 13+ minute epic that successfully melds Indian music with rock. In fact the track feels like an outtake from Traffic. Flute, sax, dual guitars, piano, violincello, and tenpura fuse together over the rhythm section. Perhaps the lesser of the band's two studio albums but overall a success.

"Death.Taxes.Ozric Tentacles.Since 1984 this loose collective have been releasing reliably great music from the mind of leader Ed Wynne. Their margin of error is enviably tiny – there is no such thing as a bad Ozrics album. Sure, some are better than others, but the body of work is as inescapably consistent as mortality and societal contributions. Technicians of the Sacred is their fifteenth studio album, second double album and the first release in this format since Erpland in 1990. It is also one of the best they have ever recorded.The blend of electronica and inner-space rock is instantly recognisable with ‘The High Pass’. World music and gently undulating synths take their time to ease us back into the required frame of cosmic consciousness. It takes almost 6 minutes for the secret weapon, Wynne’s signature lysergic lead guitar, to be deployed and that is the modus operandi of the whole album – nothing is rushed, each track unfolds lotus-like.‘Changa Masala’ distils all the band’s ingredients into a spicy side-dish. Sequencers, vocal samples and a reggae skank provide the base while acoustic guitar rips like a John McLaughlin solo, interjecting a nod to their past, a musical in-joke for the fans, which I won’t spoil for those who haven’t yet heard it.The Steve Hillage (Gong, System 7 and sometime Ozrics collaborator) influence is foregrounded in the first disc’s closer, ‘Switchback’. Tap-delay guitar slithers over a web of ambient keyboard washes. Portamento bass notes slide and glide their way through the patchouli-scented psychedelic haze.f the first disc was an aromatic treat, then the second is manna. ‘Epiphlioy’ recalls the classic ‘Saucers’. Its serpentine twelve-string acoustic riffs employ Eastern modes to evoke a scene that is paradoxically earthy and otherworldly. Staccato strings conjure Kashmir while a celestial orchestra of whooshing keyboard pads threatens to levitate us into the stratosphere and beyond. We are back in the bizarre bazaar, folks. Brandi Wynne pins down the ethereal mix with a heavy dub bassline. The track changes constantly. This is the most compositionally complex music the band has ever produced.While there are references to Ozric history and a more organic feel similar to early classics with the occasional use of non-electric instruments and ethnic voices, the album as a whole is a step forward. The painstakingly crafted symbiosis of synthesised sounds and rock instrumentation, coupled with a slick production, lend Technicians of the Sacred a holistic integrity not heard since Jurassic Shift (which incidentally entered the UK charts at a very respectable number 11 in 1993). The whole gels together and flows with the multi-layered sophistication of a symphony while retaining some of the jam-band aesthetic of the free festival days.‘Smiling Potion’ features interlocking sequences even Tangerine Dream would be proud of and a tribal metronome-sense beat straight out of Peter Gabriel’s soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ.As ‘Rubbing Shoulders With The Absolute’ throbs along on a blissed-out dub rhythm artificially generated voices ensure the weirdness meter is kept firmly in the red.Hungarian drummer Balázs Szende makes his first studio appearance and throughout the album he proves to be a superb addition to the group, whether approximating the tight programmed style of The Hidden Step era or, as on the closing track, ‘Zenlike Creature’, tackling elusive prog time signatures with ease and finesse. As Ed Wynne winds up a solo worthy of fusion maestros Mahavishnu Orchestra he introduces a shimmering Hillage-esque repeating motif that stays in the mind long after the music has stopped.Technicians of the Sacred, for all its dynamic shifts and intricacies, is a very chilled-out release, one for relaxing to and for transportation to the other, wherever that may be. There are no jarring wig-out rock guitar hero sections or all-out sonic attacks like ‘The Throbbe’. Rather this is Ozric Tentacles’ most cohesive and accomplished effort in almost 20 years and a highlight of a long and peerless career." - Echoes And Dust

Debut release from this Danish offshoot of Oresund Space Collective. Pure cosmic psychedelic bliss. If you are a fan of Quantum Fantay or Ozric Tentacles you need to hear this one. Guitarist Magnus Hannibal offers of killer soloing over Ola Hansson's Crystal Machine sounding synths. Remember when Ozric Tentacles was a great band? You know - back before Ed fired everyone. Think Erpland. That's what this is like. A non-stop lethal injection of space rock. Highly recommended.

In the late 80s/early 90s the British space rock/psychedelic scene exploded with so called "festival bands". Many of these bands recorded one album and disappeared (anyone remember the great Cherokee Mist or Tubilah Dogg?). Delerium Records signed many of these bands and zines like Ptolemaic Terrascope and Crohinga Well helped cultivate and nature the bands. One of the bands signed to Delerium was a band called Omnia Opera. Blim is actually an offshoot of Omnia Opera, with drummer Neil Spragg being the common thread.Blim recorded two professionally done albums that were only released on cassette. This was still a popular medium and I imagine much easier for the bands to bring along with them to gigs and send through the mail. Like many of the bands at the time Blim shared a musical affinity with Ozric Tentacles. In other words the music had roots in the psychedelia of Gong and the space rock of Hawkwind. In the case of Blim there were slight jazz undertones thrown into the mix. You will hear similarities to Ozric Tentacles but you wouldn't think of them copying them. Zero finds the band as a six piece and No Frills has a paired down lineup (now as a quartet). Blim deserved a better fate than what they got. These guys could really play and their music was as good as any of the bands that got a deal. If anything there music had a bit more complexity than most of their counterparts and that made their music all the more interesting.This 2CD set includes both cassette releases and each album has bonus tracks. Over all its 150 minutes of prime space rock. Highly recommended.